Unexpected Hero
by tailslover666
Summary: COMPLETE! BIG THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR READING/REVIEWING MY STORIES! Tails finally gets revenge on the evil Dr.Robotnik but he doesn't even remember doing it! Now our hero is lost in the woods, injured and alone-Will he survive!


Unexpected Hero.

_Yep, it's me again already. Thankyou for all the wonderful reviews I've been getting on my other fics-you all really have made my day! _

_To all those of you who are starting to think I'm a sick, twisted wierdo for contiuously killing off Tails (and Sonic), I just can't help myself. I really love the little guy but I'm just so much better at emotional writing than I am at action type scenes so I guess I'm just doing what I do best. I promise I'll try to write a couple of 'happy's' for all of you who have ran out of tissues! Hee Hee!_

_Anyhow, lets' do it to it!_

_Tailslover666._

The day could not have been any more unexpected for the Freedom Fighters. It had started off normal enough; Rotor was working in his workshop on his latest invention and Tails was helping him. At ten years old, the young fox had become very adept with the workings of machinery and never failed to astonish Rotor with his ideas.

Today they were in the process of designing a new explosive device. It was as small as a coin yet, once detonated, it would be capable of destroying up to a half-mile radius of metal, wood, or brick. It would certainly come in handy when on visits to the dark city of Robotropolis.

"Do you mind if I go swimmin' Rotor? Its way too hot to be in doors today!" Tails said with a grin. Rotor looked over to him. He was becoming quite a good-looking fox and soon all the young, female Mobians would be after him. His status as a Freedom Fighter would only add to the appeal from the girls.

"Sure, I don't want you here sweating over everything!" Rotor replied jokingly and Tails scowled at him in mock anger before flicking his tails and leaving the workshop. Rotor sighed. He remembered being that young. That was before all this war ever started and it was a different life. He thought about how lucky he was to have a childhood without the threat of Robotnik looming over everyone. Then again, that was all Tails knew wasn't it? He had lived his whole life in battle against the evil doctor and just took it as normal. If Rotor knew that life was going to be like this, he wouldn't have taken his childhood for granted like he did.

He decided to think of lighter things; after all, war had given Tails skills that he probably would never have needed otherwise. He could fight, he could run almost as fast as Sonic now and he wasn't afraid of death like most creatures. He had stared it in the face uncountable times and now he was able to be strong and fight to the end instead of cowering like a baby. Yes, Rotor was sure that Tails would do o.k...

"Sire; we have Freedom Fighter activity on CAM-bot twelve." Snively stammered as he tottered nervously into the control room.

"Show me." Robotnik ordered and Snively punched a few commands in the computer in front of them. After a moment, a picture started to develop on the screen. As the image came into focus, a grin started to form of the fat face of the doctor which widened as the picture became clearer.

"Yes! Snively! It's the fox brat and he's all ALONE!!!" Robotnik boomed-making Snively jump clear off the floor- as he began to prance ungracefully around the room. Snively peered at the image. It was the camera that had been placed at what the Mobians called the 'ring pool' only a few days ago and already the unmistakable picture of Miles 'Tails' Prower was splashing about in full view of them.

"Shall I deploy the SWAT-bots?" He asked with an equally large grin on his face.

"Of course Snively you idiot! But tell them to bring him ALIVE; I have big plans for that little fox!" Robotnik replied as he left the control room to wait for Tails' arrival...

"That's so much better!" Tails sighed to himself as he let himself float effortlessly in the cool waters. As he did so, he played with a chain around his neck. It had been given to him by Sonic when he was only five years old and had treasured it ever since. He hadn't taken it off once since that day.

He sighed again. He knew he couldn't stay there for long; Sally was holding a meeting soon, but he could enjoy it while it lasted. He wished that Sonic was here to talk to but at the same time was glad that he had such peace and quiet. That quiet was broken however, when he climbed out of the water and was immediately grabbed by several pairs of robot hands. He tried to fight them-but there were too many and they dragged him off kicking and screaming into the forest.

"SONIC! HELP!" He yelled at the top of his voice before being stuck with a tranquilliser dart...

Sonic and Sally were on their way to Sally's hut for the meeting when they heard a faint, echoed scream from far away.

"What was that?" Sonic asked, looking puzzledly at Sally.

"I don't know but it sounded a bit like-"She stopped and clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Nah Sal chill out, Tails is working with Rotor-I went over there earlier to tell them about the meeting." Sonic replied but as soon as he did, he was shocked to see Rotor walk up beside him.

"Nope-He went to the ring pool a while ago; he said he wanted to cool off. Anyway, what's up?" The walrus asked when he saw Sally's worried face.

"Didn't you hear that scream just a minute ago?" She asked him and he shook his head.

"I'll go check it out-be back in a sec." Sonic said before zooming off into the forest.

"I wish he wouldn't do that!" Rotor said as he choked on the dust cloud Sonic had left behind him.

"I'm going to look for him." Sally said as she began to walk in the direction of Tails' hut.

"Let me help too!" Rotor called after her.

"Tails? You in there?" Sally called as she knocked on the door to his small hut. There was no reply which only added to their worry. Rotor tried the door but it was locked.

"What now?" He asked. Before Sally could answer, Bunnie approached them.

"Hey guys! What's happenin'?" She asked in her usual, bubbly voice.

"Have you seen Tails?!" Sally asked hurriedly. Bunnie looked thoughtful.

"Er...yeah. It was 'bout twenty minutes ago. He told me he was goin' to the ring pool for a swim. Why are ya so worried?" She answered in her southern accent.

"Oh it doesn't matter..." Sally replied quietly. She didn't want to worry Bunnie until she was sure that it really was Tails' scream she had heard.

Suddenly, a familiar sonic boom was heard and a huge cloud of dust approached the group. They all waited for the dust to clear then saw the blue figure appear out of it.

"Well?" Sally asked anxiously. Instead of answering her however, Sonic simply held up a small object. Everybody instantly recognised it as Tails' chain.

"What's going on?!" Bunnie asked as she was still in the dark about the situation.

"We aren't sure but Tails is missing and we heard a scream earlier-that's about it." Rotor replied. Sonic examined the necklace.

"It's been snapped." He said. "Like someone pulled it off him..." He continued, his voice seemingly lost in thought.

"Did you see anything else at the ring pool?" Sally enquired hopefully.

"Nope, just a few footprints but they could have been anyone's." He replied as he felt himself tense up.

"I bet this is something to do with Robotnik!" Rotor said in an angry tone.

"Yeah well, he'd better not hurt Tails or so help me..." Sally threatened, equally angrily.

"Lets not go doin' anythin' stupid now guys-we need t' find out if it was ol' Buttnik that got sugar-fox first." Bunnie said, being the voice of reason for a change.

"I guess your right. Lets go see uncle Chuck to see if he's heard anything." Rotor suggested.

"But we can't just leave him there! Robotnik could be doing anything to him!" Sonic protested, making sure he didn't use the word 'robotisation'.

"We don't know if he has Tails for sure yet. Maybe...maybe he just got lost in the forest or something." Sally reasoned, trying to calm the hedgehog.

"Fine, but we had better be quick about it!" Sonic relented sulkily. So all five of them, (they had picked up Antoine on the way) set off in the direction of uncle Chuck's hideout...

"This is brilliant! Its absolutely, marvellously evil! Now the little mutant is here, the hedge-pig won't be far behind! Then I will have them BOTH!" Robotnik practically squealed with joy as he stood at the entrance to the cell compound, watching two SWAT-bots carry in the lifeless body of a small, orange fox. Snively stood next to the doctor, grinning from ear to ear. Maybe he would get a vacation as a reward for inventing the cameras that would capture both the hedgehog AND the fox.

"Shall I order the robots to put the fox in a cell?" He asked cautiously.

"No Snively you imbecile, if we do that, the hedgehog would only find some way to rescue him and then we would be back to square one!" Robotnik replied harshly.

"What are you going to do with it then?" Snively asked.

"Bring him up to the control room, I have just the thing for hostage situations like this!" Robotnik answered, hardly able to contain his excitement. He then pranced merrily back towards the control room, signalling for Snively to follow. The SWAT-bots also followed and soon, Robtnik, Snively, the two SWAT-bots, and a tranquillised Tails were all crowded into the smallish room. It had only been designed to house two people but everyone got in alright. Robotnik went over to the far end of the room and fumbled around in a cupboard for a minute. He eventually pulled out a camcorder and passed it to Snively.

"What is this for Sire?" The smaller overlander asked puzzledly.

"Why, we are going to create a movie Snively!" Robotnik replied with a sadistic grin plastered across his face. Snively turned on the camera and pointed it around the room to see if it still worked after being in a cupboard for so long.

"Still works." He verified.

"You just point it at me and I will do the talking." Robotnik ordered before walking over to the robots that still held Tails.

"Ready Sire?" Snively asked and Robotnik nodded. Snively hit the record button and focused the camera on the scene...

"Look at that!" Rotor informed the Freedom Fighters when he saw something moving towards them off in the distance. They were in the centre of the Great Forest on the way to Chuck's hideout when they saw a SWAT-bot approach them. Two things were odd about the situation; number one was that it was alone, and number two was that it was in the Great Forest instead of Robotropolis.

"I'll go check it out." Sonic said and they all nodded.

"Don't do anything hasty Sonic." Sally called after him as he sped off to meet it. Moments later, there was a small explosion and a dust cloud rose into the air. Soon after, Sonic came blasting back to them.

"I told you not to do anything hasty!" Sally scolded as he screeched to a halt.

"I didn't; I made sure I got this videotape off it before I kicked its metal butt!" Sonic replied with a 'you gotta love me' grin.

"Do y' think it's about Tails?" Bunnie asked. Sally shrugged.

"There's only one way to find out!" She decided and they all ran faster to Chuck's den so they could watch it.

"Well, well, well, fancy having a surprise visit from my favourite young Mobians!" Uncle Chuck laughed as he opened the door of his den to see them all.

"Hey unc'." Sonic said and hugged the robotised hedgehog. One by one, Chuck embraced each of them and then realised.

"Where's young Tails?" He asked unknowingly.

"That's what we're here about..." Sally replied sadly and uncle Chuck realised the situation.

"Oh great!" He said sarcastically, placing a hand on his hip.

"I'm afraid so. We need to run this videotape here please-we got it on the way here from a SWAT-bot." Sally informed his and he moved aside to let them in. Once everyone was inside, Sonic passed the tape to Chuck and he pushed it into a cassette player nearby. Everyone was silent as they waited for it to start. Suddenly, a picture formed in front of them. It was blurred at first but it soon cleared. It was Robotnik's control room. He was stood in front of the camera, almost filling up the screen.

"Greetings Freedom Fighters! As I am sure you are all aware by now, I have taken the liberty of capturing your fox friend. Now, before you all start worrying and crying like the pitiful creatures you are, I have looked after him and he is fine as you can see." The camera turned away and showed the two SWAT-bots guarding the unconscious Tails who they then laid on the floor in front of them.

"He has been sedated to make it easier for us to capture him as he has gotten a lot more agile over our many encounters and has managed to escape more than once in the past as you know. Now to the point, I want Sonic-yes I'm speaking to YOU hedge pig-at my control room within one hour of you receiving this transmission if you want-" Robotnik was cut off as he heard a noise behind him.

"Where am I?" Tails asked himself sleepily whilst rubbing his eyes. Once he could see clearly, all the Freedom Fighters watched his facial expression change drastically as soon as he realised where he was. Pure horror flashed across it for a brief moment but as soon as he saw the ugly face of Robotnik, that expression turned into total hatred and anger. "What the HELL am I doing here?!" He demanded to know and Robotnik simply grinned bitterly at him.

"Why, I am just informing your friends on how well I am looking after you my dear fox!" He laughed manically before stepping closer to Tails. "Anything you would like to add?" He asked patronisingly, nodding towards the camera. Tails let out a low snarl that none of the freedom fighters had seen before.

"Go Tails!" Sonic cheered to the t.v screen. Sally told him to 'shh'.

"How DARE you disrespect ME? You are nothing but a MUTANT!" Robotnik yelled, angry at Tails' bravery towards him.

"SHOVE IT LARD BOY!" Tails screamed back before lunging at Robotnik. For a split second, Robotnik widened his eyes in terror but just before Tails managed to sink his sharp teeth into the doctor, the two SWAT-bots grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground. The freedom fighters could clearly see the camera shaking as Snively's hands shook in fear. They all stood in silence; amazed at the way Tails was acting. He kicked and screamed, trying to shake off the robots and for a while, it looked like he was going to get the better of his two metal restraints.

"He's gonna rip Buttnik's head off!" Sonic yelled excitedly. Sally did not hush him this time but instead smiled, just excited as he was. Unluckily for them, and Tails, however, Robotnik had pulled a gun from his pocket and was pointing at Tails who hadn't noticed yet; he was too preoccupied with trying to get away from the robots. Robotnik fired a shot and although he did not entirely aim it at Tails, it skimmed the side of his leg. He yelped and stopped fighting for a moment in total shock. He turned around to see who had shot him and that gave the SWAT-bots the chance they needed. Instantly, the first robot sped forward and punched Tails hard in the stomach. The fox, who had been on his feet, now doubled over, winded. The second robot saw its opportunity and brought its fist down on the back of Tails' head. He fell to his knees, unable to think straight. He forced himself to stay conscious however and overcame his pain to glare at them. He was hit in the face once again and he fell onto his stomach as the two robots crowded him, ready to deliver the final blow. Tails refused to give up however and smiled menacingly at Robotnik as a trail of blood made its way down his chin-even as the robots kicked him repeatedly in the stomach. One of them lifted him to his feet, although Tails could hardly stand, then punched him with all its might in the face. Tails staggered back into the far wall from the blow and his back hit it, knocking the wind out of him once again before he slid to the here...Sssonic......" Tails managed to slur out before succumbing to his injuries and slumping onto the floor of the control room.

"Well..." Robotnik said after a while of silence. He seemed slightly unnerved by the whole situation. "I wasn't expecting him to be that feisty...Oh well, he won't be trying anything like that for a while now!" He continued and laughed. By now, the Freedom Fighter's excitement had turned to that of disgust and frantic desperation in the knowledge that Tails was hurt. "Anyhow," Robotnik continued. "As I was saying. I want you Sonic in exchange for the fox's life and I want you here NOW! You have sixty minutes before I dispose of your friend and I'm not going to bother with robotisation either; I'm just going to go in there and blow his brains out and use them to paint my walls! So you had better get here SOON if I were you. Oh, and don't try anything stupid either; I have cameras all over this fortress and if I see one hint of any of your other friends, I'll simply scrap the deal and kill him on the spot! Hope to see you soon hedgepig!" He finished then the picture turned to static. Everyone continued to stare at the blank screen for a long time after the message until Sonic noticed a clock on the wall.

"One hour..." He mumbled in a trance like state. The others glanced up at him.

"What are we going to do?" uncle Chuck asked lightly.

"I suppose I'll have to figure that out when I get there." Sonic replied and he left the hut before anyone could stop him...

"It looks like your friends aren't coming." Robotnik told Tails in evil contentment. The fox had been awake some time now and was laid in the corner of one of the filth-ridden cells inside the fortress. He didn't notice the filth though as he was using all his effort just to breathe. He was sure his ribs were broken and every breath he forced himself to take filled him with pain.

"I...I told...him not...to..." Tails gasped out a reply to Robotnik as he gritted his teeth.

"Well more fool you then!" The doctor laughed-he hadn't been so happy since...well, in a long time.

"Why...don't you just...get it over...with...?" Tails said grimly.

"Because it makes me so beautifully happy to see you in this much pain. I want to make your stay here as agonising as possible." Robotnik told Tails, leaning his arm against the side of his cell. Tails forced himself to stand up; he didn't want to give the fat overlander the pleasure of watching him suffer. He felt dizzy as soon as he managed to get up but remained standing, holding the bars for support.

"Y...you're going...to die tonight..." He breathed calmly before making himself ignore his pain. He walked over to where Robotnik was stood as best he could without falling over then stared him straight in the eye. Robotnik looked at the state of the animal. Blood ran freely from a slash on his chest and from the shot that scraped his leg. His bottom lip was split which also bled down his chin. He was amused at the sight.

"What makes you think that?" Robotnik asked patronisingly and Tails simply smiled at him. It was a dry smile, a smile that overcame his fear totally; a smile that told Robotnik that Tails knew something that he didn't.

"This does..." Tails stated quietly before blasting a hole in Robotnik's chest with a laser gun. The laser gun that Tails had been quick enough to steal earlier-the laser gun that spelt the end of the war. Robotnik staggered backwards with a 'what the hell was that' expression. Tails simply watched bitterly as the evil dictator crumpled to a heap on the floor-dead. Tails stood there for a few seconds just taking it all in. All these years of planning and battling and one shot was all it took to destroy him. It was so simple.

"Now to get out of here..." Tails said to himself and looked around him. THERE! That was his escape route- a loose brick in the outer wall of the cell! His luck seemed to be never ending today. He sat on the floor in front of the brick and pushed it out. He listened as the brick fell to the floor. Judging from the length of time it took for the brick to hit the floor, he must be on about the fifth floor. That wasn't really a problem though. He took the gun once more and repeatedly shot at the rest of the wall to weaken it. After he ran out of ammo, he went over to the wall and kicked it until there was a hole big enough for him to fit through. He was still in a great deal of pain although the adrenalin rush he got from shooting Robotnik had eased it a little and kicking the wall in wasn't helping. His survival instinct came up to bat however and he forced himself to continue. Once he had done that, he eased himself out of the hole and balanced on the tiny ledge so he could fly away.

"Bye bye Buttnik!" He said coldly before hopping off the ledge and sailing off towards the forest...

"I hope I'm not too late." Sonic said to himself as he sped into the fortress. Robotnik had instructed the SWAT-bots to allow him to enter the fortress so they did not try to shoot him-which was good in Sonic's opinion. He reached the control room quickly and barged in to find Snively sat alone at the mainframe computer.

"WHERE IS TAILS?!" Sonic demanded to know and Snively looked a little puzzled.

"Robotnik said that he was going to meet you at the cells." The frail overlander replied nervously. He knew Sonic could kill him in one blow so decided to be polite when the SWAT-bots weren't around to protect him.

"He said on the videotape to come here!" Sonic said angrily and Snively trembled slightly.

"Well, you should know what Robotnik's like-maybe he went to watch over the fox?" He stuttered and relief swept over him as Sonic turned and left the control room. Snively proceeded to scan for Robotnik's whereabouts on the computer and got the shock of his life when a message in bright red lettering appeared on the screen.

"LOCATED I. ROBOTNIK. FIFTH FLOOR COMPOUND. WARNING! - BRAIN WAVE DETECTION; NIL.

HEART RATE MONITOR; NIL.

RESPIRATION; NIL.

I. ROBOTNIK R.I.P. HAVE A NICE DAY. "

"He's dead? HE'S DEAD!" Snively came to the realisation and began to dance around the room. "But how?-Not even the hedgehog could have got there and killed him that quickly, it must have been...no, he couldn't have..." He debated with himself but in reality, he didn't care who or what killed his boss as long as he was finally dead...

"I hope they're both o.k." Sally said as they waited for Sonic to return.

"Yeah, me too Sal." Rotor added slowly.

"We should be doing something to help poor sugar-fox." Bunnie stated sadly as though she thought she would never see him again.

"Butz vat can vee do?" Antoine retorted in his best Mobian voice.

"I dunno, maybe we should 'av gone with sugar-hog." Bunnie replied thoughtfully.

"But you heard Robotnik-he would have just killed Tails before we had chance to save him if we all came." Sally said. "No, I think it's best if we stay here and wait." She finished.

"I sure hope your right Sally." Rotor stated before going to look out the window to see if he could see them returning...

Meanwhile, Sonic had reached the cell compound and was in the process of breaking the main door to the cells down. He hit it once more and it burst open, hinges flying off everywhere. He entered cautiously-it could be a trap. He looked around himself and saw nothing but a long line of dirty cells running down the narrow corridor then stopping at a far wall. He suddenly saw something in the shadows at the far end of the room and peered at it to see what it was. He couldn't make it out so began approaching whatever it was slowly. As he neared it, the thing began to take a very familiar shape.

"Robotnik?!" He said in an awestruck tone. The corpse of the man obviously did not reply. Sonic went over and stood in front of Robotnik's figure. He saw a single gunshot hole in his shirt and frowned. He did not know who could have done this but he was overjoyed just the same. A smile appeared on his face as he kicked the body. He looked to the cell behind him. It was empty except for a few bloodstains on the floor and a hole in the far wall. He examined the bars and saw one streaky, crimson handprint on one of the bars. Suddenly, realisation struck him. It must have been Tails' cell because who else would be able to escape a cell on the fifth floor? That it have been Tails that shot Robotnik? How did Tails get a gun? Where was Tails now? He wouldn't be able to get far by the looks of this blood. Sonic was both overjoyed and concerned at the same time. "Lets go fox-hunting!" He said happily to himself and set off in search of his best friend and virtual brother...

"RIGHT! That's it! I'm going to find them!" Bunnie decided as she looked to the others. "You with me?" She asked.

"Sure-it's been over two hours now and we still haven't heard anything." Sally agreed and all of them, including uncle Chuck, left the hut. They started off in the direction of Robotropolis but didn't have to travel far before a very happy looking hedgehog zoomed up to them.

"SONIC! Where's Tails? What happened? Is he o.k?" Sally asked frantically.

"I don't know but he's hurt. He wasn't there-he escaped." Sonic answered. His smile faded a little at the thought but did not vanish completely.

"That's terrible! What are you smiling for? He could be lost somewhere!" Sally replied slightly angry.

"I'm smiling because I found something whilst I was there." Sonic said, hardly able to keep from telling them straight away.

"What?" Bunnie asked and Sonic smile increased if that was possible.

"I found Robotnik's big fat ugly corpse!" He yelled, unable to contain himself.

"What! He's dead?!" Rotor asked in total disbelief.

"Yep!" Sonic replied. "And I think Tails killed him!" Sonic added, his voice full of pride for the young fox.

"Tails?!" Was all they could say. "How?!"

"He'd been shot." Sonic said. "But we need to find Tails now-maybe he can explain all this."

"Your right-lets go." Rotor agreed and they set off in search...

It was three days since Tails had shot Robotnik and the ten-year-old fox was still wandering around the forest without a clue where he was. On the day he escaped, he had flown for a while but the pain of his injuries forced his to descend and he slept on the forest floor, exhausted. When he woke up, it was nighttime and he did not recognise anything in the dark. He tried everything to get back to the village but now, three long days on; he had run out of ideas. He had not eaten since the morning of his capture and felt dizzy with hunger. He had managed to find a stream from which to drink but that was long past now and he was dehydrated. His injuries had started to become infected and although he had tried, they were too painful to even clean. He refused to give up however and continued to stagger on through the trees until he would collapse onto the ground. He woke up again and soon carried on his way, trying to find anyone or anything that could help him. On the fourth day, he had nearly given up hope of ever finding Knothole and Sonic again but still, something inside him made him keep walking. By now, he had to cling onto the trees for support and stop every few minutes to rest. His wounds were becoming more painful by the day and now he felt like his rib cage was going to explode. He could barely see but suddenly, made out the blurry shape of something blue through the greenery of the surrounding trees. He staggered closer and picked it up. It was a necklace. Not just any necklace but HIS necklace-the one Sonic gave him. He wrapped it around his wrist and looked about him. He must be close to Knothole if someone had left this here for him to find. He thought he saw something else and tried to go over to it but tripped over a tree root and fell. The wound across his chest split open and Tails let out a huge scream. Blood seeped out of it onto the floor and Tails held his breath to try to stop the pain. He stayed in that position on the forest floor for a while, drifting in and out of consciousness until he finally managed to drag himself to a standing position. He held the gash on his chest while he stumbled towards the object he had seen earlier. It was Sally's white silk scarf. Now he KNEW he must be near home. Tails picked up the scarf and thought about tying it around his chest. Sally would probably be mad if he got blood on it but desperate times called for desperate measures. He wrapped the scarf around his chest as tightly as he could without causing more pain than he was already in then looked around for his next clue...

"What on Mobius do we do now?" Sonic sighed to Sally as he sat in her hut, staring at a picture of himself and a younger Tails stood at the beach.

"I really don't know..." Sally replied tiredly. None of the Freedom Fighters had slept in the last four days and it was beginning to take its toll on all of them.

"Where else haven't we looked?" He asked her hopelessly.

"We have already searched everywhere within a twenty mile radius of the fortress and you-well, you've been even further!" She replied then yawned.

"I'm not gonna give up Sal, if it was me that was missing, Tails would never give up trying to find me-he's like that." Sonic stated with a thoughtful expression. Sally could almost see what he was thinking about.

"There's no use torturing yourself Sonic-that's not going to bring him back." She tried to reason although she felt just as bad as he did.

"But he's out there and he's hurt. There was blood in that cell Sally and it wasn't Robotnik's." He argued and Sally yawned again.

"Lets see if the others have heard anything." She suggested and Sonic nodded sleepily. They both left the hut and went over to the mess hall where the others were gathered. Bunnie was resting her head on the table while Rotor and Antoine were helping each other to stay awake by slapping the one who started to look drowsy.

"Anythin'?" Bunnie asked as she heard the door open and raised her head a little.

"We were going to ask you the same thing." Sally replied and Bunnie let her head fall back to the table with a bump.

"Vee vill find 'im. I vill go look forz 'im again ant again until I iz findingz 'im." Antoine said, not even bothering to try to speak decent Mobian.

"Thanks Ant, that means a lot." Sonic smiled faintly before sitting down with them. Sally joined them all.

"Four days..." Bunnie mumbled.

"Do you really think we have much of a chance of finding him now?" Rotor asked.

"I don't know and I don't care 'coz I'm gonna keep lookin' anyway." Sonic replied monotonely.

"C'mon then, we may as well have another look instead of just sitting around here doing nothing." Rotor suggested and everyone slowly got up to leave...

Tails congratulated himself. He had done well to find all the clues he had found in his condition. He had hardly been able to see but luckily, all the objects he had found so far had been brightly coloured against the green of the forest. The 'bandage' around him was by now soaked in blood as were his gloves where he held his chest. Dried blood covered most of his body from his wounds and he felt really tired. He needed to sleep but refused to give in to that urge because if he did, he probably would never wake up. He picked up another item. A bracelet. He examined it closely and realised that it belonged to Sonic. Tails had made it for him last year out of coloured ribbon. It shone silkily in the dim light of the forest and looked almost like it had a multi coloured aura around it. Tails wrapped it around the same wrist as his necklace and kept checking to see it hadn't fell off-he wanted to treasure it for Sonic. Neither party knew it, but each had just missed each other by about two minutes and now, Sonic and the gang were where Tails found his necklace...

"Someone's been here!" Sonic said as he realised the necklace was gone.

"Do you think it was Tails?" Sally asked and Sonic nodded.

"It must be him-it's got to be..." He hoped.

"Lets see if the other stuff is gone too." Rotor suggested and they turned back on themselves. In a few seconds, they reached the spot where the second item, the scarf, should have been.

"My scarf's gone too." Sally said and then Sonic caught a glimpse of something red.

"Look! Blood-Tails must have been here!" He exclaimed and the others turned to look at the pool of blood on the floor. A lot of it had been soaked into the ground but there was an obvious trail of it leading through the forest.

"It can't have been that long ago either-it's still wet!" Rotor pointed out as he touched the puddle softly.

"C'mon then!" Sonic urged them and they once again started off, following the drops of blood that led down a small path in the trees. They came to where the next object should have been and saw instead, a bloody hand print on the tree branch where the object had been hung. Bunnie pointed it out before following the trail faster...

Tails had continued his journey as quickly as he was able for the last five minutes and had collected two more items in that time. He felt completely exhausted and wanted nothing more than to be at home in his bed which helped to spur him on. The wound on his chest was still bleeding and by now had lost a considerable amount of blood, causing Tails to feel even more tired and dizzy. He stopped and gathered his head before looking around him for the next clue. He hoped there weren't many more to find. He was sure his vision was getting worse as he scanned the area and at first he didn't notice a long pink ribbon dangling from a tree. It was only when a gust of wind blew through the trees, making the ribbon blow around like a flag, that he saw it. He tried to walk over but at each step, pain ripped through his chest causing him to drop to his knees and crawl over to it. When he got close enough, he pulled himself up once more by grabbing the tree that the ribbon was hanging from then slowly reached up to get it. As he stretched to do so, the pain worsened but Tails forced himself to reach it. He finally managed to pull it down and collapsed in a heap to recover. As he sat resting against the tree however, he saw something that made his heart skip a beat. The tree right in front of him had a small, door-shaped hole cut out of it! It was the tree that everyone used to get into Knothole! He breathed a sigh of relief that he had found it then rolled onto his hands and knees again and made his way into the door...

"What now?!" Rotor asked when they reached the place where Tails had picked up the last object. They all saw the trail of blood leading into the entrance of the village but couldn't understand it; they had only just left from there ten minutes ago!

"We must have missed him." Sally said as she frowned in bewilderment.

"But wouldn't we have seen something if we had passed him?" Rotor reasoned and Sally shrugged then sighed.

"Well he MUST have gone down there-look." Sonic argued, pointing at the line of blood.

"We may as well check, I mean, even if it wasn't him maybe we can get some rest when we get back." Sally suggested then all six of them, including uncle Chuck, entered the hollow tree. They had missed Tails going down that same tree only a few minutes ago.

Inside the tree, a long line of steps trailed downwards, deep underground before coming back up again to the entrance of Knothole. The village itself was virtually unlocatable without using these stairs making it nearly impossible for Robotnik to find. Tails had managed to get into the doorway alright but as soon as he started to make his way down the stairway, his legs gave way beneath him and he fell. Arriving in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, Tails saw stars for a moment. He wanted to give up right there, he wanted to just stay where he was and sleep but he couldn't. Everything he had done so far, all the effort and pain he had put himself through, all of it would be wasted if he never made it back to the village. So Tails began to drag himself up the second flight of steps with one hand, keeping the other clenched to his chest in a vain effort to stop the bleeding. He decided to discard the silk scarf, it wasn't helping him it just hurt his ribs further so he left it on the stairs. It was quite a while before he finally managed to claw his way to the top of the stairs, but he just made it before the Freedom Fighters all piled down the first staircase...

"look! I see something!" Chuck called out as they got to the bottom of the stairs and everyone ran towards the object.

"It's my scarf!" Sally cried when she picked it up. It was drenched in blood and the only way she realised it was hers was a small white patch that the blood hadn't reached. The sight disheartened the Freedom Fighters somewhat although they tried not to show it.

"Come on!" Sonic ordered and Sally dropped the scarf back onto the steps and ran after him. Even though they were all worn out, all of them found it in themselves to run up the next set of stairs and got to the top quickly. They stopped when they reached the top and looked around.

"THERE!" Rotor shouted after a few seconds of scanning the area and they all looked to see where he was pointing. In the midst of the daily crowd of animals that filled the main street, a small figure stumbled forwards with his back to them. He was hunched over and covered in both dirt and blood but he was unmissable. It was defiantly Tails. Several villagers stopped and stared at him as he staggered past them but none seemed to want to help him-even as he limped to them, asking where Sonic was. Sally frowned, disgusted at the way Tails' fellow villagers were treating him.

"TAILS!" Sonic screamed as loud as he could over the noise of everyone else. The fox slowly and painfully turned around to see who it was and then spotted the Freedom Fighters. As they all rushed up to him, the hugest feeling of relief hit him and he fell to the ground, unable to stand up any longer. Sonic reached him seconds later. "Tails?!" He asked worriedly and Tails slowly opened his eyes to look up at the concerned face of the hedgehog.

"Hi..." Tails whispered as he struggled to breathe. Sonic smiled at him as the worry on his face turned into relief.

"C'mon bro', lets get you to Bookshire." He said before carefully lifting Tails into his arms. Tails stared at him all the way to the hospital.

"I...I thought I'd never see you again." He said quietly.

"Yeah, me too. But that doesn't matter now does it?" Sonic replied and watched Tails fall asleep in his arms. He quickened his pace as he looked down at Tails' chest which was still bleeding. Why was it that Sonic always ended up covered in Tails' blood? He didn't know but didn't really care as long as the fox survived...

"Well, do you want the good news first or the bad news?" Doctor Bookshire asked Sonic who was pacing back and forth across the hospital waiting room. He stopped and looked over at the doctor.

"There's bad news?" Sonic asked worriedly.

"Well yes, but I'll first tell you the good news. Tails has survived and he's recovering well. He had two broken ribs, a fractured jaw, and severe blood loss. There was some internal bleeding where the ribs had caused damage but all that has been rectified now. He sure is a fighter that kid." Bookshire informed Sonic. He took a deep breath. "Also, he was highly dehydrated so he is on a fluid drip right now. He should be fine in a month or so." The doctor finished and looked at Sonic for his reaction.

"So he's ok?" He asked.

"He will recover yes." Bookshire replied.

"So what's the bad news then?" Sonic asked a little confused.

"Well, it seems that he had been shot in the leg and due to the fact that he was out in the forest for so long without medical attention, the wound became infected. We cleaned it up as best we could when he got here but there is a chance that..." Bookshire paused, nearly unable to say it. "A chance that Tails may have to have his leg amputated...I'm sorry..." He finished then looked down at the floor. Sonic stood in silence for a while, unable to take it in. He didn't know what to say.

"D...does he know?" He finally managed to splutter out.

"Not yet, he hasn't woken up." The doctor replied quietly.

"Do me a favour, don't tell him yet-I want to see what Sally thinks of it all." Sonic asked before speeding out of the hospital leaving a trail of blue behind him...

The remaining Freedom Fighters were all crowded into Sally's small hut, waiting for Sonic to return with news. At first, they had all piled into the hospital waiting room after Sonic but the doctor soon made sure to it that they leave-other patients family members had nowhere to sit in the tiny room and were lined up on the corridor. Sally had immediately asked if Sonic could stay and wait; Tails meant more to him than anyone else so she considered it best that he was the one to stay. The doctor had agreed and the others had grudgingly exited the waiting area and went over to Sally's hut as that was probably the first place Sonic would come looking for them. That guess was right as they soon found out when a rather solemn looking hedgehog lightly tapped on the door before coming in and sitting down with them, dragging his feet as he did so. This was not an encouraging sign for the group and they were all thinking similar thoughts; had Tails died?!

"What's wrong?" Sally asked, breaking the silence in the gentlest way she could. Sonic sighed deeply, seemingly trying to decide how to word things.

"He's not...not..." Bunnie stuttered, unable to say the word 'dead'. She didn't have to though because everyone knew what she was implying.

"No, he's gonna be alright I think." Sonic reassured them.

"What's the matter then?" Sally asked again.

"You saw Buttnik shoot him on the video didn't you, Bookshire says that coz he's been out in the forest so long without a doctor, the bullet hole got...got infected and..." Sonic trailed off as if saying it aloud made it true. "His leg..." He finished quietly, bringing all the Freedom Fighters into sudden realisation of what he meant.

"No..." Rotor said in disbelief. It seemed too cruel to be true.

"Sugar-fox..." Bunnie whispered before sobbing onto Antoine's shoulder. Antoine did not say anything. He simply stroked Bunnie's head soothingly. Sally also felt like she was going to burst into floods of tears but tried to compose herself for Sonic's sake. Sonic needed her now and although he hardly ever showed emotion, she could see it in his eyes. No more would she be able to watch the pair of them race through the streets, Tails shouting for Sonic to 'wait up' while Sonic laughed and showed off by running backwards. Chuck, being Sonic's uncle, thought of Tails as a sort of nephew too and felt for them both. The poor fox's life would never be the same again.

"He doesn't know yet-I asked Bookshire not to tell him until we had talked it over." Sonic informed them, ignoring Bunnie's crying before he joined her.

"Is it definite?" Chuck asked.

"Er...I'm not sure, you'll have to ask the doc." The hedgehog replied quietly.

"Well then," Chuck continued, trying to sound optimistic. "I think we should go find out for sure instead of moping around like this, it might not happen." He finished and looked around the room as he rose to his feet, trying to spur everyone to follow him.

"I suppose you're right. Come on guys, let's go." Sally said, taking control of the situation as always and soon they were all headed to the small hospital at the east side of the village. Antoine was holding Bunnie's hand softly. It was the only thing stopping her from crying again and she held on to it as if her life depended on it; she didn't want the villagers to see her cry as they were totally unaccustomed to it and seeing a Freedom Fighter cry didn't look good. She really understood what having a fake leg was like and prayed Tails would not have to go through the same as she had endured. You see, with the discovery of robotisation, prosthesis and fake limbs had been abolished-there was simply no need. Metal was a lot stronger and more durable therefore, on the rare occasion that a Mobian needed a limb amputated, one of the Freedom Fighters would be ordered to sneak them into Robotropolis and have the limb robotocized. It was a lot quicker and easier than having a normal limb created but there were some downsides. Firstly, it was an extremely painful procedure. Secondly, it was easier said than done to get a sick Mobian into the fortress, robotosised, and out again without being spotted. Thanks to Tails' bravery though, that second complication could be forgotten now. Bunnie lost track of time as she drifted off into thoughts of her own robotisation. Similar to what Tails may have to go through but unlike her, he had a choice in the matter. Maybe if he did lose his leg-Walkers forbid-it would bring them closer together. They already had a strong relationship; Tails classed her as family along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters, but although she would never wish it on anyone, it could give them something in common. She would have given anything to have had someone to talk to who was in the same situation as her but unfortunately, at that time she was the only robotised Mobian in the village. Hopefully, she would be able to be there for Tails so he didn't have to feel alone in his new circumstances. Anyway, she shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that; it hopefully might not even happen.

"Come on Bunnie!" Sally called back to her. She was so lost in her own moral debate that she hadn't realised that she had ended up lagging behind the others. She jumped at the voice, realised where she was then ran to catch up with them. They waited for her on the stairs that led up to the hospital entrance.

"It'll be ok Bun." Sally said, trying to restore Bunnie's optimism. All this must bring back bad memories and Sally knew how Bunnie felt. Why did something like this have to happen to someone so young and innocent? He had his whole life in front of him and it felt like it was being ripped away from him. Poor kid. Sally felt a little guilty-afterall, she was meant to be responsible for his actions. Then again, what could she have done to make it any different? She still didn't know how Robotnik knew where Tails was when he was captured but she was determined to find out. Like Bunnie, her thoughts had caused her to lose all track of time and now it was she who found herself dropping behind the others who were making their way down the twisting corridors of the sterile building. It smelt of death and Sally didn't like it. The smell reminded her of every single time someone close to her had ended up here. Most of them had left in a coffin.

"Almost there now." Rotor said as they approached the tiny waiting room that they had been shooed out of earlier. Sally quickened her pace before any of the others had a chance to notice how far behind she was.

"Look-there's the doctor." Sonic said as he saw doctor Bookshire about to go into a room on their left. He ran and caught up with him before he got chance to open the door.

"Doctor, we're here to see Tails. Is he awake yet?" He asked quickly. The doctor hadn't realised that someone was behind him and was caught off guard.

"Er...Oh, hello Sonic. Yes, Tails is awake but he's very weak. If you want to see him, I have to tell you to go easy on him; no excitement or anything." Bookshire said to which Sonic nodded in agreement. "Oh, and don't mention anything about his leg either; a shock like that would definately not be good for him in his condition. Understood?" The doctor continued and once again, Sonic nodded.

"Sure thing doc-nothing like that." He agreed and went off to tell the others who were all stood around the window to a closed door. Sonic guessed that they must have found Tails' room.

"Hey, we found him." Rotor confirmed.

"What did the doctor say?" Sally asked.

"Basically, he jus' told us not to shock him coz he's weak. In other words, don't say anything 'bout his leg-ok guys?" He informed them.

"Fine with us. Lets go then everyone!" Rotor assured him before quietly opening the door to the small room that Tails was in. He was laid with his back to them and did not move when they entered the room.

"Is he sleepin'?" Bunnie whispered.

"I'm not sure." Sally whispered back and approached his bed. "Tails? You awake?" She asked quietly, just in case he wasn't. In response, the bed sheets moved and a small figure rolled to face them. He looked pale-like all the blood had been drained from his body. He gave the ghost of a smile before closing his eyes lightly.

"How are you feelin' bro?" Sonic asked.

"Like I haven't slept for a year." Tails replied without opening his eyes.

"We've been lookin' for you for days!" Sonic continued and Tails reached out a hand for Sonic to hold.

"Do you remember what happened honey?" Sally asked in a soothing tone and Tails frowned with his eyes still closed, trying to remember.

"...I...videotape..." He recalled hazily.

"Yeah, we got that. How did you get outta there?" Sonic asked as he held Tails' hand softly.

"Um...there was...a loose brick...I think..." Tails tried to remember although his memory was fuzzy.

"Can you remember anything else?" Rotor coaxed. Tails thought about it for a long time and the others waited patiently. Suddenly, images from the last four days began to engulf Tails' memory and a second later; the whole, terrible episode came back to him. He quickly opened his eyes in alarm.

"Yeah, I remember now... I was at the ring pool and some SWAT-bots managed to find me. I don't know how they knew where I was and I tried to fight them off but there were too many of them. After that, I remember waking up in Robotnik's command room and he was filming me. You know what happened if you got the videotape so next thing I knew, I woke up again in a sort of jail cell. Robotnik was there but I can't remember what he said. All I remember after that is finding this in the forest." He explained and pulled a small bracelet from his wrist. It was made from several coloured strips of ribbon plaited together.

"My bracelet." Sonic said quietly. It touched him to find that Tails had kept it safe after everything that had happened. He took it from Tails and wrapped it around his own wrist.

"Oh, and Sally, sorry about your scarf; I lost it." Tails said with a guilty look.

"It's ok honey, I can get another one." She reassured him. Rotor realised something.

"Tails, did you say that you couldn't remember what happened when you were in that cell?" He asked the fox.

"Yeah-why?" Tails replied and then yawned. Rotor shot a glance to Sonic as if to say 'doesn't he remember?!'.

"It doesn't matter. I was just thinking that's all." Rotor said instead when he saw Sally's 'no excitement' look.

"Anyway, you look wasted bro-we should leave you 'til ya feel better." Sonic said, noticing the pale, fragile appearance of his comrade.

"No please don't go, I don't want to be on my own." Tails protested.

"Well, we have to go to a meeting I arranged earlier today but I'm sure Sonic wouldn't mind staying with you, would you Sonic." Sally suggested and Sonic smiled.

"Sure Sal." He said and the others began to leave after hugging Tails and wishing him well. Finally, Sonic and Tails were alone.

"Thank Mobius I didn't have to go to that meeting!" Sonic sighed as soon as Sally had left. Tails smiled at his comment.

"So, what have I missed while I was away?" Tails asked with a wry smile.

"I'm not sure-we've been out looking for you most of the time." Sonic answered, thinking it ironic that they had searched for Tails for ages but it turned out that he was the one who found them. "Anyway, enough of all that-how are you feeling?" He continued.

"I told you already." Tails said and Sonic frowned.

"No, I mean how do you _really_ feel?" Sonic explained with a knowing look.

"Pretty rough I guess but a lot better than I felt in that forest-It was pretty bad back there." Tails replied truthfully. "My leg hurts most for some reason though." He finished and looked down at the roll of bandages preventing him from seeing the damage done to his leg. Sonic was distraught-if he didn't tell Tails now, he would be upset at Sonic for hiding it from him later. On the other hand, if he did tell him now, Mobius knows what would happen to him-the doctor did tell him not to upset Tails. He debated it in his mind for a while longer then decided not to tell Tails-it would be better off for him.

"I really missed you bro." He said instead and leaned over to hug the small fox.

"Yeah, me too." Tails whispered then looked Sonic in the eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again..." He said quietly then looked at the floor. Sonic smiled gently and wiped a tear from Tails' cheek.

"Hey, don't think about it bro, all that matters now is that you found us and you're gonna get better real soon-ok?" He reassured Tails who once more looked up at him with his sapphire coloured eyes that sparkled from his tears.

"Yeah..." He sighed, looking very tired all of a sudden.

"I think I'd better let you get some rest." Sonic said, noticing Tails' fatigue.

"Will you stay with me until I fall to sleep?" The fox asked before yawning.

"Sure I will little bro." Sonic answered and Tails snuggled into the sheets properly. Sonic sat and held his hand as he watched him slowly fall into a deep slumber. After a while, Sonic silently got up and slowly walked to the exit. "Life sucks." He muttered to himself before taking a final look back at his sleeping comrade then leaving the room.

Deep in the heart of Robotropolis, a small overlander sat at his desk in silent glee. Now that the evil dictator was dead, new opportunities were opened to the little man and he could not have been happier.

"Ahh, this is the life." Snively sighed to himself as he typed away at the mainframe computer, reprogramming the SWAT-bots to do his bidding instead of his former uncle's.

"Yes it is!" A deep voice boomed form behind him, making Snively jump clear out of his seat. He spun around quickly in his chair to see who it was that spoke and came face to ugly face with the one person he never expected to see-Robotnik. The evil doctor laughed at his nephew's astonishment.

"B...But...But you're...you're dead!" Snively stuttered out feebly.

"Am I?" Robotnik asked sarcastically. Snively nearly fainted at the shock so Robotnik decided to speak up. "I'm sorry if you were disappointed but my death was just one of the many hoaxes I have delivered to those Freedom Fighters over the years. I was wearing a bullet-proof vest you see." He explained calmly.

"But...But why sir?" Snively asked timidly.

"Why Snively you little twerp! If those idiotic Freedom Fighters believe that I am dead, they are going to let their guard down aren't they? Then, when they least expect it, I can make my move and destroy them all!!" He said with more evil laughter. Snively actually thought that his boss's idea was very clever and something that gave them a real advantage over the Freedom Fighters.

"Great idea Sire! What are you planning on surprising them with?" He congratulated his boss. Robotnik rubbed his chin in thought for a while.

"You'll have to wait and see my dear nephew...wait and see!" The doctor laughed manically and Snively shuddered...

_So, will Tails lose his leg? Has Buttnik finally thought of an idea that will destroy the Freedom Fighters for good? You'll have to wait and see my dear readers...wait and see!_


End file.
